It’s important to be able to spot and stop some of the winter weather nonsense you … RALEIGH - A recent study highlights two of the reasons that misinformation about COVID-19 is so difficult to tackle on social media: most people think they're Social media is a salon of bogus weather info during the snowy season. Indiscriminate liking and sharing is oxygen to scammers and misinformation merchants. Credit: Unsplash. Other psychological phenomena can make the problem of misremembering worse. Treen, K. M. Worldview backfire effect: effect by which facts and counter-arguments to a person’s strongly held beliefs only serve to reinforce those beliefs. Examples of misinformation are false rumors, insults, and pranks. In other words, the effectiveness of initial testing was not contingent on the strength of the misinformation. This column originally appeared in Navigator, GroundTruth’s newsletter for early-career journalists. How to Avoid Election Misinformation The best defense from rumors, hoaxes, propaganda is knowing the truth. The questioner has taken the most important step, recognizing the problem. "Blatant misinformation, it's an outrageous lie," said Preston Heldibridle with Pennsylvania Youth Congress. This launches it on its way to viral success. d’l., et al. Here's how to sort real news from fake news. Teaser photo credit: Smart phone users wait at a train station. Consider the illusory truth effect. I told myself that the best way to fight against misinformation in Haiti is to educate as many people as possible about media literacy. Yet it feels very counterintuitive to do so. Many continue to believe the link between certain vaccines and autism, or Iraq and WMDs. (Photo by Peter Hogan/Flickr) Cynthya Gluck — Jun 26, 2020. Their motivations may range from fraud and peddling malware to political influence. Many medical experts worry that these vocal individuals are urging people who could become pregnant to avoid vital folic acid supplementation, putting unborn babies at unnecessary risk for neural tube defects. A damaging element of misinformation is its ability to counteract the positive effect of accurate information. By Howard Hardee , Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism - Oct 20th, 2020 12:42 pm January 20, 2020 10:56 AM Photograph By iStock. Opinion: Here's how to avoid dangerous medical misinformation. These are important matters of public health and policy. A recent study highlights two of the reasons that misinformation about COVID-19 is so difficult to tackle on social media: most people think they’re above ave Recent research has focused on the “tainted truth effect,” which is closely related to the misinformation effect. To avoid the familiarity backfire effect, you should start with the facts and focus on them, avoid repeating misinformation unnecessarily, clearly identify misinformation as such, and immediately follow misinformation with corrective information. How to Avoid SEO Misinformation. Finally, the Danish government came up with a plan to avoid … Unfortunately, the purveyors of misinformation excel at exploiting our cognitive biases to get us to buy into fake news. The Tainted Truth Effect. Misinformation is false or inaccurate information that is communicated regardless of an intention to deceive. Roger Montti August 31, 2019 6 min read. Posted Nov 10, 2020 However, as the election brings voters a renowned sense of patriotism, it has also brought a slew of misinformation and … 3) Governments should avoid censoring content and making online platforms liable for misinformation. Big tech companies such as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, YouTube and the rest aren't ignorant of how misuse of their services could be harmful at the moment. This sample of biases, which can be used to produce misleading charts, raise the importance to take into consideration that many of these biases have impacts on business and economic decisions as well as human behaviour in general. Misinformation about climate change can be found in several platforms as mainstream and social media. The government is distributing brochures with tips on how to avoid falling for misinformation. Over half of Americans have variations in a gene known as methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), which is involved in using folate to help make crucial cellular building blocks. 5 ways to spot disinformation on your social media feeds Disinformation is everywhere. The speed and volume of information being shared online, makes it vital for journalists to approach every claim with a critical mind. 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